Fall Arts Celebration 2014 will feature distinguished writers, poets, musicians, artists and scholars. With something for everyone’s tastes, this year’s events focus on making sense of the new and unfamiliar while being charmed by the gifts of timeless classics.

All events are free and open to the public.

GVSU Music Department Presents “Pioneers of American Musical Theatre: Music from the Lost Operettas of John Philip Sousa” September 15, 7:30 p.m. Louis Armstrong Theatre, Performing Arts Center Grand Valley faculty members and students will present selections from two operettas from the pen of “The March King” that had been lost to modern audiences: The Charlatan and The Bride Elect. “Mark your calendars for this fascinating glimpse into a forgotten era of American music,” said Danny Phipps, chair of Music and Dance. “Full of spirited march melodies and an unmistakable aura of optimism, this is music to be dusted off and treasured once again.”

Art Gallery Exhibition “Shared Passion: A Gift of the Stuart and Barbara Padnos Foundation Collection” Opening Reception, September 30, 5-7 p.m. Art Gallery, Performing Arts Center Exhibited August 22-October 31 The Barbara and Stuart Padnos Foundation gave 35 works of art to Grand Valley. The pieces, from the home of Stuart and Barbara, were purchased by the couple over decades as they traveled and grew as collectors. “I’m just thrilled that we have received this gift,” said Henry Matthews, director of Galleries and Collections. “As collectors, these works of art reflect a shared passion in their life journey. Stuart and Barbara purchased art throughout their marriage beginning with simple, humble works of art, to the increasingly more sophisticated. As a group, it’s a wonderful reflection of the second half of the 20th century that spans their life together.

Distinguished Academic Lecturer Scott Simon, “Professional Journalism in a DIY Age” October 6, 7 p.m. Eberhard Center, 2nd floor NPR’s Peabody award-winning Scott Simon has reported from every continent, covering political campaigns, famines, hurricanes, earthquakes, civil wars and scandals. He is the host of Weekend Edition Saturday. “Scott Simon is the ideal person to help us think about journalism in an age in which time demands are 24/7, and nearly everyone has a cellphone, but not an editor,” said Fred Antczak, dean of the College of Liberal Arts & Sciences. “With experience in so many parts of the world, across so many different kinds of events and topics, Simon is ideally situated to raise the right questions about how we should be thoughtful consumers of what calls itself ‘news.’ As Grand Valley has just revamped the broadcast/journalism curriculum in a more contemporary context, Simon will be asking timely and demanding questions about what we need from it.” Poetry Night “An Evening of Poetry and Conversation with Mark Doty & Dorianne Laux” October 16, 7 p.m. Eberhard Center, 2nd floor Mark Doty is the only American poet to have won Great Britian’s T.S. Eliot Prize; he was also the winner of the National Book Award for Poetry in 2008. Doty is a professor and writer-in-residence at Rutgers University. Laux is the author of five books of poetry. She’s the recipient of two Best American Poetry Prizes, a Pushcart Prize, two fellowships from the National Endowment for the Arts and a Guggenheim Fellowship. Laux teaches poetry in the MFA program at North Carolina State University. “Laux worked as a sanatorium cook, a gas station manager and a maid, before finding her true calling as a writer,” said Patricia Clark, Writing Department chair. “Her poems have been translated into several languages, including Afrikaans and Brazilian Portuguese. Doty has published three memoirs and eight books of poetry. He is currently working on a memoir that centers on his poetic relationship with Walt Whitman, entitled What Is the Grass.” Dance “Gallim Dance: Articulate Bodies, Visceral Language” October 27, 7:30 p.m. Louis Armstrong Theatre, Performing Arts Center Using a new dance language called GaGa, Gallim Dance, a New York-based contemporary dance company, incorporates past and present movement invention practices, fueled by human emotion. Gallim Dance is one of the world’s most sought after contemporary dance companies. It is breaking new ground in choreographic invention, physical realities and human awareness. Artistic director Andrea Miller is a former Julliard dance graduate who studied GaGa technique with the Batsheva Dance Company under the direction of Ohad Naharin. Upon her return from Israel, Miller embarked on a cutting-edge mastery of movement invention inspired by the compositional improvisation structure of GaGa technique. Gallim’s dancers are fluid, quirky and phenomenal talents.

Holiday Celebration “The Many Moods of Christmas: Celebrating the Traditional Music of the Holidays” December 8, 7:30 p.m. Fountain Street Church, Grand Rapids Falls Arts Celebration concludes with the University Arts Chorale and the Jenison High School Chamber Singers joining Department of Music and Dance faculty and guests for a special performance of Robert Shaw’s “The Many Moods of Christmas.” Fountain Street Church was selected for its superb acoustics and central location for Grand Valley’s holiday gift performance to the West Michigan community. Traditional Christmas carols will be sung with music from composers like Handel, Bizet and Bach.